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Shojen and the Lost Soul Gem
Shojen and the Lost Soul Gem is a cautionary tale often told to doeron children in Jakoni and nearby nations. It details the story of a young doeron named Shojen who feels upset that his younger siblings and friends have all received their soul gems before him. Because of his lacking a soul gem, he is treated as lesser by not only adults that still see him as a child, but also his own peers who have obtained their soul gems. Shojen, infuriated by this mistreatment, steals a soul gem from a blind elder in the village and runs away to find somewhere he won't be recognized as a child, but as an adult. However, he soon finds that the soul gem ceases to gleam and turns into a useless rock. He throws away the soul gem and returns home, where he finds that the whole village has been searching for him and the missing soul gem. Thinking quickly, Shojen claims he was searching for the lost soul gem of the elder, and he joins in the efforts to relocate the soul gem. He hopes to claim glory for finding the lost soul gem, and so he returns to where he discarded the stolen soul gem. Shojen soon finds the soul gem, but whenever he picks it up, it turns back into a normal stone. He decides to try and figure out this matter independently; until then, he doesn't want anyone else to take the soul gem and also the possible praise he'd receive for finding it, so he brings it with him back home and stows it away. As time goes on, the village eventually gives up on finding the lost soul gem, deeming it likely that a thief without any valor whatsoever has taken the gem and won't return. The elder bemoans the loss of the precious, irreplaceable soul gem, and wonders if this is perhaps a consequence of mistakes made in the past -- but to Shojen's surprise, even when the elder doesn't have the soul gem, everyone still treats the elder with utmost respect and honor. Angry, Shojen asks why someone else without a soul gem is treated better than he is, and he is reprimanded that adulthood is not simply having or not having a soul gem. Rather, adulthood is maturity, experience, hard work, and accepting the consequences of life. Because Shojen lashed out at other people to try and raise himself "above" them, he got the opposite effect; everyone saw him as a temperamental child deserving of no respect, with or without a soul gem. After thinking on this for some time, Shojen resolves to return the soul gem to the elder. He explains what happened and why he took the gem, and, though Shojen initially faces punishments and consequences for his thievery, he is ultimately more respected for his integrity in returning the soul gem and being honest in the end. After several years of hard work and humbling himself to others in the village, Shojen finds that others respect him much more. In time, his soul gem manifests -- and it looks almost identical to that of the elder he stole from years ago. Category:Ealdremen Stories Category:No Spoilers